Posted 10:51 AM by Gene

The other day GRANTLAND.COM, which by its very portentous name gives notice that it will be ESPNCORP's version of GRATE.COM with a generous helping of SI sports verbosity thrown in (pardon -- ESPN The Magazine), ran a story on The World's Greatest Network's Repertory Company. It seems the same actors can be mixed and matched in all Its masterpieces; the author even threw in a chart to prove it. Unfortunately not all repertory companies are created equal. The big studios of the golden age had theirs, and they were so good even the character actors were well known; by contrast we doubt anyone knows the World's Greatest Network's geniuses except for TV cri-TICS and the obsessive viewers who must watch everything and who constantly play with their TiVos, and excluding know-it-alls like Robert Bianco even they might be hard-pressed to match names and faces. And if you can't remember the actors how can you remember the shows? The snide references to "High-Quality Dramas (HQDs)" and "Premium Cable Purgatory" say CRITICAL ACCLAIM may not be all it's cracked up to be.